It really makes feel like you're fighting Nosferatu Zodd!

Not an amazing game, but it makes for a fun distraction if you got an afternoon or two to kill.

This review assumes you've read Berserk up to the Millennium Falcon arc, so things about the plot won't be explained as in-depth. This games takes place right after Guts, Casca, and Puck leave for Elfheim as they end up taking a detour to a town infested with a plague that turns its victims into rampaging monsters called Mandragorans. The ruler of the town, Balzac (They got away with this name) tells Guts that in exchange for getting a heart of a fully grown Mandagora, Balzac will help Casca retrieve her memories (if you read Berserk and never heard of this happening, this plot is in this game only). The story is alright and gets the job done, it can't really do anything too grand since it takes place in the beginning of an arc that will have many amazing moments much later on, however there is a very sweet moment near the end with Guts and Casca where Casca momentarily regains her memories (even though given things that happen much later, it probably wouldn't have happened nicely as it does now).

The gameplay of Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage is pretty janky all the way through, but it's never unplayable. You play as Guts and use his iconic sword, the Dragon Slayer. Your main moves are a horizontal slash, a vertical slash, a jump that lets you do aerial attacks, and a guard. You can also use a selection of sub-weapons Guts has used during the story such as his throwing knives, repeater crossbow, miniature bombs, and his Cannon Arm (It should be noted that the knives and cannon arm only have limited uses so be careful when using them). Guts has a meter that he can build that lets him go into a Berserk Mode (I actually don't know what it's called but I mean Guts does go Berserk so) that lets him armor through hits, attack faster, deal more damage per swing, and slash through walls. If you know anything about Guts and the Dragon Slayer, then you know that the Dragon Slayer is a really big sword, which is why I think the fact that the any attack with the Dragon Slayer getting stopped whenever it touches the wall is very questionable, it doesn't happen often but when you're in stages with small corridors it gets annoying. The boss fights range from doable while being a bit annoying to Nosferatu Zodd (At least it's accurate :D ). Nosferatu Zodd is by far the most difficult boss in the game even compared to the final boss, and can definitely be a gatekeeper from people beating the game, if there's anything to praise about this music (aside from the music), it's they made Zodd's difficulty accurate to the story. I did have to retry the Zodd fight multiple times until I learned one funny thing about Guts' move kit, his jumping vertical slash. This is move is very special for the fact that it makes Guts very hard to hit, won't collide with walls, and deals good damage. It is the best move in Guts' move kit and it's not close. One other odd gameplay things is a level where Guts has to run to the camera avoiding crumbled walls, where taking any damage causes instant death. Overall while the gameplay can be janky, it's not enough to make it unplayable but can hinder the experience at times, what helps is that the game is very short (Took me 5 hours to finish) so the annoying aspects don't linger for very long.

If there's anything that is 5 Stars in this game, it's the music. The soundtrack was done by Susumu Hirasawa, who was the composer of the 1997 Berserk anime, and has done music for other Berserk pieces of media. His music is always wonderfully done and this game is no exception with some stands out being Forces II and Indra.

Overall while a janky game that can be annoying at times, I'd recommend this to any Berserk fan who has an afternoon or two to kill.